[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12602]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IN TRIBUTE TO CECIL BROWN, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 26, 2006

  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
the life and work of a noted civil rights leader. Mr. Cecil Brown, Jr., 
who died earlier this week, was one of the first African Americans 
elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, and ultimately became a 
national leader in the fight for equality and desegregation.
  A lifelong Midwesterner, Mr. Brown was born in Chicago and also lived 
briefly in Iowa but was only nine years old when his family settled in 
Milwaukee during the depression, hoping to make a better life for 
themselves and their children. Mr. Brown graduated from North Division 
High school and went on to pursue a college degree at Marquette 
University. He worked as an accountant before he won a seat in the 
Assembly in 1954. His victory helped establish new opportunities for 
African Americans in elected office, giving rise to a cadre of strong 
elected officials that included Representative Lloyd Barbee, and County 
Board Supervisor Clinton Rose, among others. Serving a district that 
was predominantly white, Cecil Brown became known for his ethics and 
integrity, as well as exemplary civil rights leadership.
  After serving briefly in the Assembly, Mr. Brown went on to become 
one of the foremost leaders of Milwaukee's civil rights movement. He 
founded the Milwaukee chapter of the Congress on Racial Equality, and 
worked alongside Father James Groppi and others to fight for 
desegregated housing and schools. Inspired equally by Martin Luther 
King, Jr. and Paul Robeson, he was deeply committed to non-violent 
strategies for social change. His wife, Loretta Brown, too, was a civil 
rights activist whom he met while participating in the Milwaukee United 
School Integration Committee.
  All of us who are elected to public office stand on the shoulders of 
those who came before us. Mr. Brown is one of the giants in our state's 
history whose efforts enabled me to have a career in public service. I 
am honored to have this opportunity to pay tribute to his lifelong 
efforts to advance the African American community and to give thanks to 
him and his family for their unwavering commitment to equality and 
civil rights.

                          ____________________